Baby Lifeline is proud to announce the winners of its 2023 UK MUM (Maternity Unit Marvels) Awards™!
A star-studded judging panel including Dame Ruth May and Donna Ockenden selected ten regional winners and an overall national winner: United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust – Community Midwife and Obstetric Consultant.
The awards give parents, guardians and families the chance to say thank you to the team of professionals who made the birth of their child possible.
Maternity Unit Marvels
Baby Lifeline opened voting/nominations for its MUM Awards in May 2023. Members of the public who had experienced complications or problems with a pregnancy or birth in the last eight years (babies born after 02 May 2015) were encouraged to nominate the team of professionals who looked after them and ensured the survival of the baby.
The panel also awarded East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust and Essex & Herts Air Ambulance an award in the ‘Community’ category. Baby Lifeline Training Ltd presented a special award, ‘Improving Safety on the Frontline by Investing in the Workforce,’ to Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust for its commitment to training.
The national winners were nominated by Louise, who was sadly diagnosed with breast cancer whilst pregnant with her little girl, Suzy. Louise was looked after and supported by her midwife, Laura Fullwood, and her obstetric consultant, Miss Sarah Harper, which helped to put her at ease during an extremely stressful time.
In her nomination, Louise described her healthcare team as the “silver lining [during a] thunderstorm”. She said: “Laura and Sarah’s compassion, commitment and understanding has made me feel safe and secure in my most vulnerable of times. Both ladies have been my absolute rocks throughout this life changing process.”
The Winners
National winners: United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust – Community Midwife and Obstetric Consultant
Regional winners:
- East of England: Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust – Basildon University Hospital, Transitional Care Team and Midwife Paige on CMU
- London: Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust – Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) team
- Midlands: United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust – Community Midwife and Obstetric Consultant
- North East & Yorkshire: Joint care from three hospitals: The Maternity and Neonatal Unit at Sunderland Royal Hospital, The Darlington Memorial Hospital Neonatal Special Care Baby Unit, and Ward 35 Neonatal Unit at the Royal Victoria Infirmary
- North West: Preterm Prevention Clinic – Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
- Northern Ireland: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit – Northern Health and Social Care Trust
- Scotland: Angus Community Midwifery Team – NHS Tayside
- South East: Women’s Centre Maternity Department – Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- South West: Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust – Community Midwife
- Wales: Hywel Dda University Health Board – Maternity Team
Community winners: East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust and Essex & Herts Air Ambulance
Improving Safety on the Frontline by Investing in the Workforce Award, presented by Baby Lifeline Training Ltd: Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
The Celebrations
The MUM Awards Gala Dinner, where the overall national winner was announced, was hosted by television presenter Nick Owen at The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists on Thursday 5th October 2023. A private reception for nominated healthcare professionals also took place on Wednesday 4th October at Downing Street.
Winning families and children will be treated to a day of fun at Center Parcs on 22nd October 2023 and the overall winning family have won a weekend holiday at Center Parcs!
Award Judges
- Donna Ockenden, Chair of the Independent Review into Maternity Services at the Nottingham University Hospitals Trust
- Dame Ruth May, Chief Nursing Officer for England
- Miss Ranee Thakar, President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG)
- Keith Bromwich, Senior Lecturer Paramedic Science, Clinical Skills And Simulation, Buckinghamshire New University
- Gill Walton, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM)
- Guy Forster, Partner, Irwin Mitchell
- Suzanne White, Partner, Leigh Day
- Dr Christopher Dewhurst, Consultant Neonatologist and the Deputy Medical Director at Liverpool Women’s Hospital
- Dr Nick Tait, GP and member of Baby Lifeline’s Multi-Professional Advisory Panel
Congratulations to all our winning teams, and thank you to everyone that submitted a nomination!